Oak Hall avenges earlier-season loss to Saint Francis Catholic

Oak Hall's Kendylle Bishop (14) and Lizzie Cannon (2) go for a block against Saint Francis Catholic's Hailey Schoster (16).

Photo by C.J. Gish

The Oak Hall Eagles have been on a remarkable turnaround since head coach Perry McDonald returned to the Eagles midway through the season.

During this coaching change, the Eagles entered the contest having won seven of their past eight games.

This did not change on Senior Night, as the Eagles (12-11) rolled past the Saint Francis Catholic Academy Wolves (9-5), 25-14, 25-14, 25-11. The win marked the Eagles’ eighth of their final nine games to close out the regular season.

The crowd was involved in the contest from the first serve, as the Wolves’ fans were making their presence known in Eagle territory.

Oak Hall's Hannah Timm (6) with a hit against Saint Francis Catholic. Photo by C.J. Gish — Photo by C.J. Gish Oak Hall’s Hannah Timm (6) with a hit against Saint Francis Catholic.

The Wolves fans were able to chant “Out of bounds” early in the game as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set. The Eagles, however, were able to settle into the match and keep the set even until they pulled away late to win it.

“Strong start for us, but again having some issues in serve-receive, you can’t not be able to pass a ball, and send a free ball to the other team,” said Saint Francis coach Breona Fung.

The Eagles were able to continue this domination into the second and third sets. They won the second set 25-14 after it started similarly to the first set. It was back-and-forth in the beginning, but the Eagles were able to pull away late.

Fung credits Oak Hall for having a more organized system of play in this matchup. The Wolves won the first matchup at home between the teams, 3-2.

The Eagles honored their seniors before their match, and McDonald was complimentary of his seniors in how they turned the season around when he came back to the program.

McDonald detailed his decision to return to the Eagles during the season when there was a coaching vacancy.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” McDonald said. “My phone started blowing up with news that the old coach had the parting of ways [resigned], and I started reaching out to some of the seniors to make sure they were doing OK, and after about 30 seconds of texting back and forth, I just started chuckling because I knew I had 24 days free.”

Even though districts are coming for the Eagles, McDonald will have to leave during the middle of the tournament. While he must leave, he knows the team is in a position to compete.

“Where we are, especially in our district, we are probably the most dangerous team out there, as I said, it’s been an incredible transformation,” McDonald said.

Nicolette Aulisio led Oak Hall with 14 assists and four aces. Haley Janes had 11 kills and Kendylle Bishop added 10 kills. Hannah Timm had six kills, while Josie Pickens added 18 serve receptions, nine digs and four aces. Kaitlin Allen chipped in 14 assists, six digs and four aces.

For Saint Francis, Gianna Morali had 10 digs and five kills, Hailey Schoster and Katelyn Elder had three kills each. Morgan Ritten had nine digs and four assists and Gabrielle Rosado added five assists.

This was the final regular-season match for both teams, as the 2A District 1 Tournament starts next week.